


This little flower is for you

by Asukan



Series: Kakashi/Naruto Summer [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, Hokage Hatake Kakashi, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Language of Flowers, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, POV Uzumaki Naruto, Pining, Post-War, Protective Haruno Sakura, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto Needs a Hug, knksummer, knksummer2020, knksummerfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25556851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asukan/pseuds/Asukan
Summary: Naruto had never been sick before, but he had heard enough of it from his friends that he knew that waking up with an aching throat and coughing meant some sort of cold. The flowers came as a surprise. So did the rapidly growing vines that limited his breathing, ripped open his throat on a daily basis, and would kill him in a few days. Unless, of course, he could figure out who he loved in time, confess and have them love him back.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Kakashi/Naruto Summer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850467
Comments: 39
Kudos: 498
Collections: KAKANARU SUMMER EVENTS





	This little flower is for you

**Author's Note:**

> The second theme for the event, Hanahaki AU. This time it was time for Naruto to suffer.

Naruto woke up with a cough and his insides burning. Hot and glowing - like years ago when his anger would make him lose control alongside a voice hissing and growling about destruction and hatred and his skin would burn off. He’d gone to sleep with a bit of an itchy throat and thought nothing of it. Now his throat burned and clawed, and his lungs didn’t quite want to breathe as they should. Each breath felt clogged - like pushing through a thick undergrowth when running in the forest- and his head felt foggy and dizzy, like those days when money had been scarce and his belly had growled like a beast and hurt like loneliness from being so empty. It wasn’t hunger though. Naruto never went hungry for long these days, those days were gone like the old anger and empty eyes.

Coughing and an aching throat. That meant being sick, right? He had never been sick before. Coldness and loneliness had been familiar to Naruto up in that dark attic room, but never sickness. He’d never been allowed near the other children when they were ill and weak. The matron had muttered about vile corruption and demon influence and he had been kept away from the rest. He had grown up realising that other kids in the orphanage got sick, coughed and sneezed, but that he never did. Naruto had asked once why he never caught the stomach bugs or the itchy little dots from the others, but the matron had just glared and muttered about being unnatural and a freak of nature. That was the last time he ever asked why he was different.

While he had never been sick before, he had heard enough about it from the people who turned from strangers to comrades to precious people and friends to realise that it was what he was this morning. These days he knew why he was different and trusted Kurama to burn away any fever before it could ever take root in his body. It was easy to not think that much about it and trust the fox to deal with it when the grumpy bastard damned well pleased. Well, not until he went into the kitchen and got a package of spicy instant ramen from a cupboard. As he had swallowed down the broth he felt as if the spices brushed up against his throat and tore it open. It itched and scratched - like when he'd scream himself hoarse in the orphanage. 

He didn’t know why he kept thinking back to his childhood. Was the pain making him remember? As Naruto made a mental note to ask Ino about senses and memory, he coughed into his hand. Something wet and warm landed on them and he smelled rust and iron. There were specks of blood in his palm. Bright red blood from an open artery, not the duller red from a vein or the clotted texture from a wound healed over. Fresh blood.

 **“You’re not well,”** Kurama’s voice rumbled through his foggy mind and he didn’t know how to respond.

And with a swipe of fire and fur, he was in their shared mindscape and he looked up, up, up at his closest companion. The fox looked mad, but Naruto knew it wasn’t directed at him. Not these days when the bars and the chains and the dripping water of a sewer were gone and replaced by warmth and comfort.  
  
“It hurts,” Naruto said, feeling as helpless as a child as Kurama lowered himself on his furry forearms and turned his giant head to peer at Naruto with one eye like fire. 

**“You can’t get sick. I always make sure of that.”**

“I know,” Naruto sighed again, leaning against the warm, soft snout. It felt like resting against the sunshine of a warm summer day. Or sinking into the grass after a good, long spar. “You don’t sense anything strange?”  
  
Kurama closed his eyes and large tendrils of chakra erupted from his form to seek their way through Naruto’s body to detect any anomalies.

 **“Something is going on in your lungs, kid,”** the fox said, growling as if insulted by a sickness that could dig its clutches into his host and withstand the great Kurama’s focused attention. **“I don’t know what yet. Go to the pink-haired one or the old hag and ask.”**

“Sure, I’ll go to the hospital,” Naruto said, smiling and patting Kurama’s muzzle which the fox allowed for with a huff. “Thanks for checking.”

As he surfaced in the outside world with a blink, he looked at the normally so delicious broth mournfully before sighing and making himself a cup of tea. Sakura-chan had told him once about how honey was good for the throat. Did he have any in a cupboard somewhere?

After climbing his cupboards he managed to unearth a jar with a thin layer of dust on it. It was from the last time Sakura-chan had invaded his new apartment and dragged him along to buy groceries that weren’t just instant ramen. The pink powerhouse had held onto his arm, hugged it to drag him back and forth between stalls and smiling -and not glaring, not angry, not hateful- shopkeepers. He smiled at the sakura blossoms on the lid. She’d gotten it especially for him, sakura blossom honey from Sakura so he’d remember to use it in his tea when it got too bitter.

The honeyed tea did soothe the pain a bit. He looked at the jar, impressed by how something so innocent looking and delicious could be useful. 

He popped a teaspoon worth of it in his mouth before rushing off to the hospital. 

* * *

Shizune’s worried face was illuminated by the soft, green glow of her medical ninjutsu as he scanned his throat and lungs. He frowned at the sight. Shizune-nee-chan should never look that worried because of him. She had worried enough by Tsunade’s side when she wouldn’t wake up and she left them all alone without their Hokage _-and warm honey eyes and a kiss on the forehead_ \- after Pain’s invasion. Naruto was always fine after just a little bit of rest. He’d always wake up after a day and never leave anyone waiting by his bedside, looking pale and tired and scared.

“You said you woke up with an aching throat? And that the Kyūbi said something’s off with your lungs?”  
  
“Yes, and he was not happy about it.”  
  
“There is no flu going around the village and even if it were, you wouldn’t catch it,” the medic muttered as she looked at his chart again. “Let’s take a look inside. We’ll send you for an x-ray and I’ll go and fetch Tsunade-sama in the meantime. I’ll send someone after Hokage-sama as well.”

* * *

Tsunade looked at the scans with a frown. It made her look old. Like when Kakashi-sensei had stood by the memorial too long or Shikamaru returned from watching Mirai-chan when Kurenai-sensei wasn’t home. Last time Naruto had tagged along and played with the little girl for hours and hours to let Shikamaru take a nap under the clouds. The circles around his eyes had looked a lot lighter afterwards.  
  
But Tsunade wasn’t as easy to cheer up as a lazy Nara or an energetic toddler who loved to be tossed into the air. He looked at her and hummed softly - cause he didn’t care to fake a cough - to get her to look away from the charts that made her sad. “What is it, Tsunade-baa-chan?”  
  
“You have an anomaly in your lungs,” she replied, not looking away from the scan. “Just a dot about the size of a fingernail, but you shouldn’t have anything at all. You’ve always been in peak physical condition thanks to the Kyūbi. Still, it’s something new. Come by the hospital once a day for regular check-ups. I want to see how this develops.”

“Do I have to?”  
  
She looked up at that and smirked, looking more like her old self. “It’s that or I’ll tell Kakashi to take you off active duty, brat- ”, Naruto opened his mouth to argue because he hated being inactive more than he despised hospitals with the itchy sheets, boring food and unpleasant smells. “- and I will personally remove and confiscate your right arm.”  
  
“You can’t do that!”  
  
Tsunade reached out to pat the bandaged arm that still tingled a bit and didn’t always work properly but was loads better than none at all. “I gave it to you, I can take it away.”  
  
He glared at her smirking face but said nothing. She would happily remove the arm, and break the bones in his real one to keep him still. 

“Okay,” he muttered, glancing at the ticking clock at the wall. “When tomorrow?”  
  
“Come after lunch, and drag that lazy Hokage of ours with you,” Tsunade replied, writing down her observations in his chart. It had grown rather thick after the war and the many, many hours he had spent in the hospital for physical therapy to get used to his new arm. “He’ll need to be kept updated, after all.”

“Sure thing,” Naruto said and leapt up from the bed. He felt weak, dizzy and not-quite-there in the middle of the jump. His knees buckled as he landed. And then something clawed and ripped in his lungs. He bent over, body wracked with deep, dragging coughs. It felt like he was bringing up clumps of his lungs with every racking cough that shook his body. 

Tsunade and Shizune ran up to him and held onto one arm each, supporting him as he floundered trying to get his feet to take his own weight, dammit. Shizune ran a hand through his hair, stroking back sweaty locks. Tsunade ran a green glowing one that soothed and tingled up and down his back.

The two women helped him up and put him on the bed again. Breathing through the pain was hard and he kept wheezing like if Sakura-chan had punched his stomach. Shizune fussed with the blankets around him and stroked his hair again. It felt super nice, and Naruto leaned into the touch with a shuddering sigh. 

Something inside him twisted and shredded and twisted on the bed, coughing up blood that splattered to the floor in large clumps with a wet thud. As it landed, the coughing finally stopped and he could lean back into the supporting hold, wincing at the feeling of clotted blood running down his cheeks and neck.

Since the universe loved him, this was also when the door opened to let Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan into the room. He hadn’t seen either of them in weeks because Sakura had been busy in the hospital and Kakashi-sensei had been swamped lately on some secret project of his. Of course the first time he’d see either of them was when he was covered in his own blood from a goddamn cough.

“Naruto!”  
  
He’d barely seen a glimpse of silver and pink before they were both standing next to his bedside. Sakura started running her own diagnostic scan. Naruto smiled at her fussing. He knew she’d know that Tsunade and Shizune had already done it. 

“Here you go, Naruto,” Kakashi said and held out a plastic cup of water for him. Naruto tried to reach out and grab it, but his arms felt weak. The older man hummed and held it up to his mouth, helping him drink. Once Naruto had finished drinking, Kakashi went over to the window and leaned against the windowsill, looking at Naruto with a strange intensity.

“Thanks,” Naruto barely managed to croak out before something shredded his throat again. He frowned at the pain radiating through him from just speaking. What the hell was wrong with him? Was this just what normal humans went through whenever they got a cold? If it was, he’d apologise to Sakura for whenever he’d shown lacking sympathy as her voice turned hoarse and her skin went paler than normal. 

Sakura turned away once her scan was complete to clean up the mess on the floor. Naruto winced at it. It looked kinda disgusting, being all red, slimy and clumpy. 

Tsunade’s chakra-covered hands ran over him again as she was muttering about rapid growth and chakra irregularities to Shizune who nodded and went over to a bookcase and pulled out a few books. 

“Oh!” Sakura exclaimed. “There are petals here.”  
  
Tsunade stopped the diagnosis and turned around to stare at the woman kneeling on the floor, who was holding up a small, blood-covered flower petal in a gloved hand. 

“Flowers?”  
  
“Yes, Tsunade-shishou,” Sakura said, before going to a nearby tap and rinsing of the petals. Then she placed them in a napkin and handed it over to Shizune.  
  
Naruto looked at the pale faces of people in the room and frowned. “What’s going on?”  
  
“I have only read about this before, Naruto, I can’t tell you much,” Tsunade replied before she turned to Sakura. “What sort of flower was it?”

“Plum blossom, for keeping promises. Well, if I remember my hanakotoba correctly.”  
  
“Dammit, that tells us nothing,” Tsunade swore, rubbing at her forehead. “That could be about them to Naruto or Naruto to them.”  
  
“And if the latter, anyone in the world,” Shizune sighed, sitting down on the empty bed next to Naruto’s.  
  
Tsunade laughed. It was an angry, bitter sound. Naruto looked at her, clutching at his throat where a lump was forming. An actual lump, that rubbed against his insides... 

“Tsunade-baa-chan, what’s going on?”  
  
She went still and looked at him again.

“Oh, my little fool,” she smiled, but it did not look happy. “You’re in love.”

Naruto stared at her. “What?”  
  
“You’re in love, Naruto,” Tsunade said. “But, apparently, you don’t know who the target of your affections is.”

He blinked. No, that still didn’t make any sense. “Come again?”  
  
“You have the Hanakahi Disease, Naruto,” Shizune said, sitting down next to him and putting an arm around his shoulders. “It’s also called Pining disease, but that’s a bit of a misnomer."

“I’m pining for someone?” Naruto repeated as if that would make the words make sense. “I’m in love? I didn’t… I didn’t know. Shouldn’t I know?”  
  
“That’s the funny thing about the Hanahaki, Naruto,” Shizune replied. “You only get it if you’re denying the feelings for any reasons. Burying them. It’s a way for you to realise who you love.”

“It’s an uncommon disease, and I’ve never seen a real case of it,” Tsunade continued. “It’s a special set of circumstances that would make a person subconsciously burying so much of themselves.”  
  
“But as part of my training with Killer-B, I had to face my inner self. It was- it wasn’t some blushing lovesick fool.”

“That’s not quite the same thing, Naruto.”

“You lived without affection for such a long time that you’re not comfortable with the idea of it,” Tsunade said, smiling while stroking his cheek. “And now you might die for it.”  
  
“Die?”  
  
“Yes, it’s…,” Tsunade cut herself off and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “If you don’t manage to confess to the person and have them reciprocate you die. The disease makes wines grow rapidly in your lungs until they choke you. You have a few days, a week if the Kyūbi can heal the damage done to your lungs.”

**"I will do whatever it takes to stop you from dying from fucking flowers, you moron. My Jinchūriki dying of being in love? The others would never let me hear the end of it!"**

Naruto stared ahead, saying nothing. What could he say? Love, killing him. Love, being so unfamiliar to him that he couldn’t figure out who he loved romantically. 

He started laughing. He laughed until he started coughing again, the same body wracking coughs as before. Blood clotted on his hands as he tried to keep it from dripping unto the sheets. Shizune scrambled for a metal tray and held it underneath him. He laughed and coughed and cried until the now almost familiar tearing sensation tore through him again and he could feel the flower crawl its way through his throat to land with a sad splat on the tray, making blood splash onto his cheeks. 

Kakashi reached out with a wet towel and gave it to Naruto to clean up the mess on his face. Then he pulled back and stood to his full height, seeming not to notice how the white of his Hokage robes was now stained red with Naruto’s blood. 

He plucked the small, pink flower up from the tray, uncaring of the sticky mess and looked at it.

“Such a small and pretty thing to cause such problems, hm?”  
  
“Yes,” Sakura said, running her hands over Naruto’s lungs to heal the damage for now. “And a vague one at that. _Keep your promise,_ doesn’t say anything, does it? Naruto makes and keeps his promises.”  
  
“There aren’t that many Naruto made a promise to, Sakura,” Kakashi said with a frown. “Not a personal one. We also have to consider the timing for when the symptoms started.”

“You mean-” Sakura stopped herself with a glance at Naruto. 

There was something dark lingering in Kakashi’s face as he nodded. “It’s a possibility.”  
  
“What are you guys talking about?”  
  
“Don’t worry about it just yet, Naruto,” Kakashi said, smiling with his eyes closed. “You’ll need to figure this out on your own.”  
  
“So what,” Sakura said. “We’ll just have Naruto cough up blood daily until he figures out who he loves?”  
  
“What else can we do?” Shizune replied, with a glance to Tsunade who shook her head.  
  
“It is our duty to inform Naruto about the surgery as a possible option.”

“Naruto?” Shizune scoffed. “Going through that surgery?”  
  
“Over my dead body!” Sakura said with her hands clenched into tight, trembling fists.  
  
“It might be over his!” Tsunade replied, eyes flashing. “He has to be given the option.”  
  
“It’s not gonna be-”  
  
“Naruto without-”  
  
“I never said I like it, but he has the right to decide!”  
  
“It wouldn’t be-”  
  
“Out of the question!”  
  
Naruto tried to make sense of the cacophony, but his brain still felt foggy and heavy. Making out one voice over the other was too much. “Shut up!”

It felt like a kunai stabbed his insides or like he’d swallowed a shuriken that was merrily spinning on its way down into his burning lungs. The cough was impossible to stop. So was the bloody, lumpy mess he dragged up with a final wheeze. The pink petals looked delicate as they floated around on top of his blood and spit that now soaked his sheets. They seemed almost mocking in their softness that made his insides rip apart.

Once he stopped coughing he took a deep breath, accepted the refilled glass of water from Kakashi with a grateful smile and drank it. 

“What surgery?” he whispered on a shaky exhale. Anything louder and he was afraid he’d start to cough again.  
  
“It’s not gonna happen,” Sakura said, glaring at nothing.  
  
“Don’t I have a say in what happens to me?” he replied. “What surgery?”  
  
Tsunade looked at him before she sighed and shook her head. “It is possible to surgically remove the flowers. But since they’re tied to love, you would forever be unable to feel any sort of love, platonic or romantic. Forever.”

Now he understood why Tsunade refused to even entertain the notion. He would never willingly abandon his precious people like that. “Yeah, no, I would rather die.”  
  
“You’re not dying, Naruto” Sakura replied, grinning at him with her hands clenched into fists so tightly her knuckles were white. “You just have to figure out who you’re denying feelings for.”

“And deal with them not feeling the same way, Sakura-chan,” Naruto said. “That’s the hard part.”  
  
Sakura smiled and kissed his forehead. “Most of the world is already half in love with you, idiot. You’ll be fine.”

* * *

Naruto had not been released from the hospital after Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura had all conferred about the state of his lungs. Their murmured conversation had been too quiet for him to make out, so he just lied back and let the familiar voices wash over him. The scratchy ache in his lungs had made it clear to him what they’d decide anyway, but their voices were still comforting.

Kakashi had vanished for a few minutes before returning with a book about Hanakotoba with pictures for all the flowers and their meanings on the pages. Then he’d left with a dark look and a comment about finishing his meeting with some visiting lord.

As Naruto sat in his big and empty hospital room that evening he twirled the plum blossom around in his hand as he looked at the entry in the book.  
  
 _Plum blossom: keep your promise, fidelity, beauty and longevity._

A promise, huh? He had given a promise to many of his precious people. In many ways, that had been how they had grown to view him as a comrade in the first place. Was the key the beauty part? Though wouldn’t he consider whoever he loved to be beautiful? That made sense, right? So who did he think was pretty or handsome.  
  
Naruto laid back on the bed and thought about his friends and loved ones. Ino’s confident smirk and tinkling laugh. Hinata’s long, flowing hair and graceful movements. Tenten’s warm laughter and strong arms. Sakura-chan’s soft, green eyes and impressive strength. And since Naruto was aware enough of himself to know that he was just as appreciative of broad, muscular shoulders as slim, feminine ones, he also thought about his male friends. He thought of Sasuke’s pale, aristocratic features and the dark, mismatched eyes. Sai’s real smile and the soft way he looked at Naruto sometimes. Shikamaru’s patience in trying to teach Naruto shogi. Lee’s overwhelming strength and light nature. Shino’s quiet steadfastness and finally Kiba’s rugged looks.  
  
Had he promised them all anything special and was that the meaning of the flower though? He knew he considered them his precious people, but did he feel anything more for any of them? Naruto chuckled at his own thoughts. Love, you idiot. The word you can’t say to anyone is love. 

Love. Like the mark on Gaara’s pale forehead beneath deep red hair that made him think of sunsets over the desert. Lying down on a rooftop with the one who understood him the best at his side, gazing up as the blood-red sky turned dark and stars peaked out. 

He thought about them all. They were all beautiful in different ways. They were all loyal friends and comrades and he loved them all for it. Did he want to hold one of them close? Kiss them?

* * *

That night he dreamed of thorns trapping him and dragging him away from his loved ones and down, down into a dark pit. His mind had never been one for too complicated metaphors.  
  
It was hard to sleep through the constriction on his lungs and he kept waking up in a panic, his brain thinking he was dying. Each time a quiet, familiar voice would murmur comforting words and he’d fall asleep again.

He woke up to a throat that felt like he had swallowed glass, blood on his pillow and some scattered flowers covered in dried blood and spit. The small white blossoms felt delicate in his hands as he scrubbed them clean under the running faucet. Delicate despite how they had torn his throat open. Kurama had healed the damage, of course, but he could still feel something taking root in his lungs, constricting them. 

There was a jar of honey on his bedside table. Naruto smiled at the small gift and felt better knowing that he’d been guarded while he slept.

Once he’d dried the flowers he noticed how they were all a bit woolly. As he flipped through the pages of the book Kakashi had given him, licking on the spoonful of honey he'd scooped out from the gift, he stroked the long petals with his thumb. 

There it was. _Edelweiss. For noble courage and daring._

He was in love with someone brave. Given that most of his precious people were all shinobi and had fought alongside him in a war, that told him nothing.

Shizune came to his room to bring him breakfast, lunch and dinner. She’d glanced at the new flowers at his bedside table and sighed, but hadn’t commented on it beyond letting him know that Tsunade had collected her finest researchers in secret to see if a cure besides the operation could be found. Just in case Naruto didn’t figure it out in time, of course. It was fine though because they still had plenty of time.

He felt a brush of fire and fur against his mind and knew Kurama wanted to say something. **“Have you considered the idea that the flowers are in chronological order?”** **  
****  
**“What do you mean, Kurama?” he asked, looking at the flowers next to him.

 **“I think the flowers are trying to tell you why you fell for the person,”** Kurama rumbled with a thoughtful hum. **“So they’ll show up in the order you paid attention to that quality.”** **  
****  
**“So the promise was from them then?”  
  
 **“Makes more sense than a promise you gave them, right?”**

“But then…” he murmured, thinking about his precious people. “They’d first give me a promise and then I’d pay attention to how brave they are? So I just have to think about in what order I noticed their qualities.”

**“Seems like the best way to tell you who you love, right?”**

* * *

Since Naruto’s condition was a secret it meant that all of his friends learned about it. Gossip spread like wildfire through a village filled with ninja. And some of his friends were better at figuring out the latest gossip than others. It meant that Sakura often had gifts from the outside whenever she visited. He had asked for Sai’s painting of Kurama to be hung on the wall of his hospital for now since he knew the old fox would like knowing that someone had taken the time to paint him.

The cards were nice and made him smile. All of them were filled with well-wishes, and the letter from Iruka-sensei was three pages long. It told him Iruka would visit him on the fourth day no matter what and that he’d bring ramen.  
  
Sakura hadn’t known where the book about Uzushiogakure had come from which told him it was from the same person who had left him the delicious honey the night before.  
  
She entered his room on the third day carrying a large potted sunflower from Ino that she placed down at the foot of his head just as he’d coughed multiple large flowers. She hurriedly gave him a glass of water and healed his lungs once more. Then snagged a flower up before he could hide them from sight. 

“A geranium, for true friendship, stupidity and gentility,” she muttered as she was walking over to the tap to rinse it off. “And this one is scarlet too.”  
  
Naruto frowned at that. “Does the colour matter?”  
  
He couldn’t speak any louder than in a breathy whisper. The thorny vines had started to crawl their way up to his windpipe and even a whisper left his throat feeling like he had swallowed glass.  
  
“Of course it does dummy!” Sakura-chan replied, before walking over and sitting down on his bed. “A scarlet one stands for melancholy, consolation and comfort.”  
  
Naruto made a questioning noise. Sakura handed him a clipboard and a pen and he scrawled down his reply: _So what? I love someone who is stupid and melancholy?_

“Doesn’t sound like anyone we know,” she said and dropped all the flowers but one in the bowl next to his bed. Then she looked at him with a teasing smile. “But the language of flowers is elegant and subtle, Naruto. No wonder you wouldn’t get it.” 

_But you do?_

“Naturally, I’ve been friends with Ino-pig my whole life,” she said after reading it. “She forced me to learn all of it ages ago. Let’s start with the flower itself and not its colour. True friendship is easy enough. You consider the person to be a true friend. Stupidity is an odd word in this context, which means it’s up for interpretation. And since it’s used as a positive here given it’s why you love them, I’d interpret it as foolish or childlike. Someone who is willing to act like a fool around you rather than someone you think is stupid. Or someone you feel comfortable acting like a fool with.”

_It can't be that I feel stupid compared to them?_

"I guess it's possible," Sakura said. "But you shouldn't feel stupid around who you love, you know that right? You want to feel good around them, Naruto. You deserve that much."

_What about the gentility part?_

"That in itself has many meanings. The most obvious one is that the person is part of a noble family. It can mean that they are of superior social status.”

 _Clans?_  
  
“Maybe,” Sakura said and looked at the flower in her hand. “Then we’re on to the scarlet colouring. I think it means that the person comforts you when you’re sad. Or that you wish to comfort them when they’re sad.”  
  
 _That makes more sense than a sad idiot. Thanks, Sakura-chan!_  
  
Sakura laughed and put away the flower with a shake of her head. “I couldn’t leave you alone with all these flowers, Naruto.”  
  
 _But you just brought me a sunflower._  
  
“Yes, and you’ll have to put this on your balcony once you’re out of the hospital so it gets enough sun,” she said, before smiling and kissing his cheek. 

_I’ll look after it, Sakura-chan. And give Ino my thanks for the pretty flower._

“You can tell her thanks yourself when you’re out of the hospital."  
  
He frowned and attempted to scribble down how he didn’t think he had more than a day or two left, but Sakura took hold of the hand holding the pen and shook her head.  
  
“No, you will tell Ino thanks yourself,” Sakura said. “Don’t be rude and have me do it for you.”  
  
Naruto nodded. 

"Make sure you do," she said, her smile wobbling. She looked away and glanced out of the window. "Sunflowers are not suitable for funerals, you know. Too cheery."

Naruto looked at her pretty green eyes, glittering with unshed tears, and felt his chest ache again.  
  
He nodded once more and took her hand to pull her into a hug.

* * *

The following morning he woke up close to noon and saw Kakashi sitting in a nearby chair. He tried to tell him good morning, but he could only cough. His sensei moved forward in an instant and helped him sit up, keeping a supportive arm around Naruto’s shoulder. It was a good idea because once he’d coughed up the large spiky flowers into the bowl Kakashi held out, he had no strength left in his body and he fell back against the other man with a rattling sigh. He did his best to blink away the tears that had formed, but the world still looked blurry. 

“Take it easy, Naruto,” Kakashi said with sad eyes as he wiped away the tears on Naruto's cheeks. "Don't worry about trying to talk."

Naruto reached out and grabbed Kakashi's wrist to tap out _thanks_ in the Konoha style of tapping language that Iruka-sensei had been teaching him lately. Kakashi raised an eyebrow before tapping back _you're welcome_. 

"I didn't know your lessons with Iruka-sensei had progressed to our codes," Kakashi mused. "That poor man."

Naruto leaned away a bit to elbow his dear old sensei in the side for that. 

"You know that attacking your Hokage is treason, Naruto," Kakashi said, tutting at him like Naruto's first Academy teacher used to do. "I'd expect this sort of behaviour out of Sasuke, not you. What's next? Is Sakura leading a coup against me?"

Only the burning in his throat kept him from laughing. Instead, he took the deepest breath he could before reaching for the notebook on his bedside table. He got dizzy as soon as he sat up a bit straighter and he wanted to scream, rage and curse at being reduced to this sad excuse of a ninja who couldn't even breathe, let alone vent his frustration and grief. Instead, he managed to grasp the book and the pen in shaking hands and felt so very grateful for Kakashi letting him do it on his own. At least he could still pick up objects himself. 

As he leaned back again, Kakashi hesitated before reaching out a hand to stop Naruto. Then he moved over to fetch extra pillows from the other bed to give him more support. Once the pillows were fluffed to perfection, Naruto was allowed to lean back against them. He did so and scouted over a bit to give his sensei room to sit next to him. Kakashi chuckled but sat down, stretching his long legs on top of the covers. The familiar warmth was a comfort and Naruto leaned into the older man, chasing the sensation, and smiled when Kakashi wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. Everything hurt and he couldn’t focus his thoughts past the vines that had crawled into his very soul by now. Naruto felt like crying to release some of his pent up emotions, but he knew it would make him cough again and he didn’t want that. Not when Kakashi was right there, strong and dependable as always and smelling like petrichor, paper and safety. And right now Naruto just wanted to forget about anything but having Kakashi by his side, telling jokes. 

He sighed and scribbled down his reply to his Hokage’s comment about traitorous students.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "You can't say I don't have a cause for concern in regards to Sasuke being a possible bad influence when it comes to violent revolutions." 

Naruto rolled his eyes at that and stuck out his tongue at his silly Hokage.  
  
 _Why are you here, sensei? Didn’t you have that meeting with some important lord or something?_

“Our negotiations were over yesterday evening, finally,” Kakashi said. “Konoha will receive valuable materials in exchange for us providing the lord with some Chūnin level guards. It’ll be hugely beneficial for our rebuilding efforts after the war.”  
  
 _That’s great!_

Kakashi nodded, his chin rubbing against Naruto’s hair. “Yes, though I regret the unfortunate timing of the meetings. I should have been here during the daytime.”

And that’s when Naruto realised who had watched over him in his sleep, leaving gifts each morning. His heart ached and he leaned more heavily on Kakashi who only shifted to make him more comfortable.

_Not much you could have done but keep me company._

“You should not have been forced to be alone for this. Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura are all needed for research and no non-medical personnel besides myself have access to visit you.”

 _It’s alright, sensei. It’s just nice to have someone to talk to now._   
  
He signalled Kakashi to hand him the book about the language of flowers and the flower he’d coughed up.

“No need,” Kakashi said, shoulders tense and brows furrowed. “It’s a clematis for mental beauty, ingenuity and artifice.”

_A genius, huh?_

“There are a few geniuses and prodigies in Konoha, but the symptoms started the day after we received a letter from Sasuke,” Kakashi murmured. “I sent for him on the first day, but we’ve received no reply. He is most likely in another dimension right now.”

Naruto shook his head against Kakashi’s shoulder. 

“It’s not Sasuke?”  
  
 _I already know that I love him. He’s my brother. Also, a bit of an idiot. That stupid plan of his… He’s not that much of a genius. Not compared to-_

He stopped writing and looked at the page in amazement.  
  
A beautiful and loyal person who had made him a promise early on. Someone of a superior social status who had always been comfortable acting like a fool around Naruto. A source of comfort for Naruto whenever he felt down. And a genius, who was an idiot at times with his stupid tendency to sacrifice himself when there was no need for it, but who liked to trick people in clever ways that made Naruto laugh, even when directed at him.

“Naruto? Are you alright?”  
  
\- _you._

“Thank you,” Kakashi said, and relaxed his shoulders. “Well, he’s still a prodigy and the timing seemed fitting. That means we’re back to square one, but at least the person is most likely in Konoha. Which is fortunate. Do you have any idea who it is?”  
  
Naruto nodded.

“Do you want me to send for them?”  
  
Naruto shook his head. 

“Naruto,” there was reproach in Kakashi’s voice. “I realise that confessing to someone under these circumstances is hardly ideal, but your life's on the line. That is more important than anything else. I cannot- I will order you as your Hokage to confess if it’s needed.”

Really, his sensei could be a bit of an idiot. He rolled his eyes and turned the page in his book to a blank one. Then he took a chance and wrote down his confession again. This time there would be no way to misunderstand it.

_It’s you._

Kakashi went still next to him. Naruto looked at the older man in concern as Kakashi took a deep, shuddering breath and closed his eyes. 

“Me,” that familiar voice was dark and gravelly. “You love me.”

Instead of trying to speak through the lump of nerves and vines in his throat, Naruto reached for Kakashi’s free hand and pressed it to his lips. As he released it, Kakashi didn’t move his hand back but reached for Naruto’s face instead. Naruto didn’t know what to expect since Kakashi was not so unkind that he’d punch him for falling in love with him. A calloused thumb stroking his cheek had not been it though, he knew that much.

“I’ve sworn to be there by your side through anything and support you should you ever stumble on your path,” Kakashi whispered, as the vines in Naruto’s throat slowly shrunk back towards his lungs, making Naruto blink in astonishment at what that meant. “I had resigned myself long ago to only ever do that. It would have been enough. And far more than I deserved. You loving me back seemed like a foolish dream I sometimes indulged in. And then I thought I was losing you, day by day. Losing you to someone else would have been acceptable, I couldn’t accept losing you to death. But there was nothing I could do but give you the book and watch over your sleep.”

For all of the pain and suffering those cursed vines had caused, they faded away with a whisper. Naruto took a deep, deep breath and laughed at the sensation of finally being able to breathe again. Kakashi smiled at him and tugged him closer by his legs, encouraging Naruto to sit on his lap. Naruto followed happily, and wrapped his arms around Kakashi’s neck, sneaking trembling hands into that shaggy hair.

Those dark eyes looked up at him, the skin around them crinkled in a smile that Naruto wanted to see. He smiled wider when he realised that he’d be allowed to do that now. And touch it. And, with butterflies in his belly, he thought that some kissing would also be nice. More than nice. It’d be fantastic.

He leaned down and brushed his lips against Kakashi’s clothed ones, nipping pointedly at the mask to make the other man laugh into his mouth. He shuddered at the sound and tightened his grip in Kakashi’s hair, scratching a bit at the scalp and delighted in how that made Kakashi sigh and lean into the touch.

“Kakashi,” Naruto murmured, voice breathy for an entirely different reason now. “I’ve heard that kissing is a big part of a love confession.”  
  
Kakashi moved one hand from Naruto’s waist to his face, stroking his lips with his thumb. Naruto nipped at it when it dipped past his lips to brush against his teeth because he was starting to get impatient at the teasing smile on Kakashi’s face.  
  
“You did, huh,” the man said, apparently entirely content to just watch Naruto tremble at his touch with something hungry in his eyes. “Then we should probably do that.”

Of course, he’d be a tease in this as well. Naruto huffed and leaned forward to bite into the mask by a high cheekbone to pull it down with his teeth. He felt Kakashi’s gasp against his cheek and cheered internally at making the guy lose some composure at last. As the mask pooled around Kakashi’s neck and he saw the pale skin of the older man’s throat he took a moment to compose himself before leaning back to bask at his price. He had wanted to see that elusive face for years, after all, and now it was in front of him, close and intimate.

“Wow,” he murmured, a bit dazed when he saw Kakashi’s face at last. He was gorgeous, and Naruto was sitting in his lap, held close because Kakashi wanted him there. Heat pooled in Naruto’s belly as sharp teeth bit into pink lips that looked really soft and those dark grey eyes turned near black as the pupils dilated. “You should kiss me before everyone shows up. Iruka-sensei said he’d be here today with lunch. And I want a kiss before that, sensei.”

“So we should hurry up then?” Kakashi murmured, thin lips stretching into a smile that Naruto could see now. It was a good smile, great even, but it should be pressed against Naruto, dammit.

Naruto glared and tightened his grip in silver hair to pull the infuriating man closer and leaned down to brush his lips against Kakashi’s smiling ones. The other man grasped at his neck to angle his face and nipped at his lips with a groan. Naruto shivered at the feeling of a familiar hand, running through his hair, as Kakashi grabbed a hold of it and _tugged_ to get Naruto to bare his throat for Kakashi to bite into. The sharp teeth dragged up and down his neck and Naruto's hands fumbled at Kakashi’s shoulders, trying to get him closer. Instead, Kakashi eased back and teeth turned to lips, soothing the marks from before.

With a sigh and a last, lingering kiss, Kakashi drew back to look at Naruto.

“While I’d love to continue this, we should take it a bit slow,” Kakashi said, as those large hands moved down to the small of Naruto’s back to just sort of rest there, petting gently. “You were dying just minutes ago, and your breathing is still a bit raspy. We should have someone heal you and get some real food in you before anything else.”

Naruto wanted to protest, but he saw that Kakashi wouldn’t budge on this. And there were things left unsaid between them and after not being able to talk for more than a day, Naruto itched to let him know all of it. “And we need to talk, huh?”  
  
Kakashi nodded with a wry smile on his kiss-swollen lips. “It’s a good idea, yes.”

“I’m not good at this stuff, sensei,” Naruto murmured, looking away from Kakashi at first before glancing up and meeting that steady gaze.“Well, y’know, that’s why I got the Hanahaki so I guess that’s obvious. I thought for so long no one would want me, being the demon brat and all, so I tried not to think about it. I liked Sakura-chan, but it wasn’t love. Hell, I was a kid, right? What did I know about love? Though I don’t know a lot more now either. Seems like I got used to the idea of no one wanting me.” 

At that, Kakashi pulled his left hand, the real one, to his mouth and kissed the back of it. Naruto stopped talking at the sight before continuing with a shaky voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t realise sooner, Kakashi. It was so obvious once I figured it out, you know? I didn’t try and deny any feelings, or anything. I’m not ashamed. I just didn’t know. Fuck, I feel stupid.”

“Don’t. It’s not your fault, Naruto,” Kakashi said, rubbing his hands up and down Naruto’s back in a comforting gesture Naruto never wanted to end. “I wish you hadn’t suffered through it, but I’m just glad you’re alive. I’m not an expert on romance either, for all the books I read. How about we figure it out together, hm?”  
  
“That sounds… that sounds really good.”  
  
“Then let me get Sakura and have someone get some ramen for you,” Kakashi said, and pulled his mask up before nudging at Naruto. He huffed but gave in and slid off that comfortable lap to lie down on the bed again. If he was up and about when Sakura entered the room he knew there would be hell to pay.  
  
Kakashi left the room with one last look over his shoulder. And Naruto leaned back against his pillows with a happy sigh.

Only a few moments later the door blew open and a gleeful Haruno Sakura blew into the room like a hurricane. Kakashi followed her shortly after and closed the door behind him.

“Naruto! You’re alright!” And with that, she sank down on the bed next to him before starting to heal him. The medical jutsu made his lungs and throat tingle, like cool water dancing across skin. 

He was about to thank her when he saw the look on her face.  
  
“Sakura-chan, you’re crying!” he exclaimed, alarmed at the way her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

“You idiot, I thought I’d lose you,” she said, finishing up and pulling him into a hug. “And you too, sensei, come here.”  
  
A delicate-looking hand snaked out and grasped Kakashi’s vest and pulled the man down onto the bed and into the hug without any further ceremony. The man knew better than to fight the iron bands crushing him close to Sakura so she could lean against him. Naruto smiled into pink hair when he felt Kakashi’s arms pulling them both closer.  
  
“I know you wanted someone to buy ramen and bring it here, sensei,” Sakura muttered, sounding choked as she pulled back to wipe away her tears. “But I think a full team lunch at Ichiraku is more appropriate. You’ll get Naruto all to yourself later. He’s been kept quarantined for far too long to keep the rest away for long.”

Naruto couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat at her easy acceptance, but Kakashi smiled and squeezed her shoulder. 

“That sounds like a great idea, Sakura,” he said. “Thank you.”  
  
She clasped her hands together and stood up. “Well, then, I’m going to go and find Yamato-taicho and Sai and let them know. Be at Ichiraku in thirty minutes, okay? Don’t be late!”

With a final wave, she was gone, leaving them alone together. 

“There’s no way to escape that lunch, right?” Kakashi mused, not sounding that upset about it.   
  
“Not at all, sensei.”

  
  



End file.
